What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a phrase used to describe a technological infrastructure in which devices, systems, people, and other "things" are connected to the internet and capable of sharing information amongst themselves in real time.

The IoT is expected to encourage greater energy efficiency, reduce waste, and improve health and safety, while also contributing to personal comfort and convenience.

The Internet of Things is not itself a new technology - rather, it is a new way of applying existing technologies while leveraging the communication capabilities afforded by the Internet.

What Does the IoT have to do with SCADA?

In many ways, in some ways the IoT is a natural extension and evolution of SCADA. It is SCADA that has burst free from its industrial trappings to embrace entire cities, reaching out over our existing internet infrastructure to spread like a skin over the surface of our planet, bringing people, objects, and systems into an intelligent network of real-time communication and control.

Not entirely unlike a SCADA system – which can include PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), HMI (Human Machine Interface) screens, database servers, large amounts of cables and wires, and some sort of software to bring all of these things together, an IoT system is also composed of several different technologies working together (Fig. 1). That is to say you can’t just walk in to the electronics section of your local department store, locate the box labelled “IoT” and carry it up to the counter to check out.

It also means that your IoT solution may not resemble your neighbor’s IoT solution. It may be composed of different parts performing different tasks. There is no such a thing as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ IoT solution. There are, however, some common characteristics that IoT solutions will share:

Data AccessIt’s obvious, but there has to be a way to get to the data we want to work with (i.e. sensors).

CommunicationWe have to get the data from where it is to where we are using it – preferably along with the data from our other ‘things’.

Data ManipulationWe have to turn that raw data into useful information. Typically, this means it will have to be manipulated in some way. This can be as simple as placing it in the right context or as complex as running it through a sophisticated algorithm.

VisualizationOnce we have accessed, shared, and manipulated our data, we have to make it available to the people who will use it. Even if it’s just going from one machine to another (M2M) to update a status or trigger some activity, we still need some kind of window into the process in order to make corrections or to ensure proper operation.

There could be any number of other elements to your IoT system – alarm notifications, workflow, etc. – but these four components are essential and will be recognized from one IoT system to the next. Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally), these are technologies that all cut their teeth in the world of SCADA.